Photography – Disposable or recyclable camera
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-20
2001-04-24
Mathews, Alan A. (Department: 2851)
Photography
Disposable or recyclable camera
C396S387000, C396S411000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06222994
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a film unit with a lens attached (a single use camera) and to a mechanism for winding up operation of a photographic film.
Up to now, a film unit with a lens attached, that is, a simple camera unit which serves to photographing in a condition with a photographic film (hereinafter referred to as ‘a film’) loaded therein is brought into practice and is widely used owing to its easy operation.
However, if the thickness of the film unit with a lens attached is made small in order to make the unit small-sized, the diameter of the member for winding up operation has necessarily to be small, and the winding up torque to the member for winding up operation becomes heavy according as the diameter becomes small, which detracts much from it for the operational torque to be light.
Further, there has been a problem to be solved that if the thickness of the film unit with a lens attached becomes small, the member for winding up operation sinks down under the operating plane into the inside of the camera body owing to the restriction resulting from the light shielding structure against the external light; hence, a finger of the user touches a part of the camera body adjacent to the member for winding up operation, and a sufficient operational force can not be transmitted to the member for winding up operation accordingly, which detracts much from it for the operational performance to be comfortable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned situation, and it is an object of it to provide a film unit with a lens attached that has actualized a light operational performance and an excellent light shielding ability while the thickness has been made as small as possible.
Further, it is another object of this invention to provide a mechanism for winding up operation for a photographic film which can be applied to various kinds of cameras other than a film unit with a lens attached. The above-mentioned object can be accomplished by a film unit with a lens attached having a following structure:
A film unit with a lens attached comprising:
an unexposed film chamber for receiving an unexposed film beforehand,
a film winding up chamber for receiving a film which has been wound up,
a photographing lens,
a spool positioned in said film winding up chamber for holding the end portion of the film,
a spool-engaged member being engaged with said spool, and
a member for winding up operation disposed at an eccentric position with regard to the center of rotation of said spool for being engaged with said spool-engaged member.
Furthermore, the above-mentioned object is also accomplished by any one of following film units with a lens attached having a desirable structure:
(1) A film unit with a lens attached comprising an unexposed film chamber loaded with an unexposed film, a film winding up chamber for winding up a film every time after a photographing shot, and a photographing lens, further comprising a spool-engaged member for being engaged with a spool provided in said film winding up chamber, and a member for winding up operation disposed at an eccentric position deviated to the operational plane side with regard to said spool and gear-combined with said spool-engaged member.
According to this invention, the spool-engaged member and the member for winding up operation disposed at an eccentric position deviated to the operational plane side with regard to the film winding up chamber are gear-combined; hence, it becomes possible to expose the member for winding up operation to the outside of the operational plane while the thickness of the film unit with a lens attached is made as small as possible, and a light operational performance for winding up a film can be actualized.
(2) A film unit with a lens attached comprising an unexposed film chamber loaded with an unexposed film, a film winding up chamber for winding up a film every time after a photographing shot, and a photographing lens, further comprising a spool-engaged member for being engaged with a spool provided in said film winding up chamber, and a member for winding up operation disposed at an eccentric position deviated to the operational plane side with regard to said spool and gear-combined with said spool-engaged member, and on the upper surface of said film winding up chamber, an engaging projecting portion for being engaged with said spool-engaged member and a journal supporting portion positioned at the operational plane side from this engaging projecting portion, wherein the spool-engaged member is positioned on said engaging projecting portion, while a part of the member for winding up operation is disposed in a manner such that said journal supporting portion is positioned between it and said spool-engaged member, and the spool-engaged member and the member for winding up operation are journal-supported in a gear-combined condition.
According to this invention, the spool-engaged member is gear-combined with the member for winding up operation disposed at an eccentric position deviated to the operational plane side with regard to the film winding up chamber; hence, the member for winding up operation is exposed to the outside of the operational plane and can be rotated in a stable condition, while the thickness of the film unit with a lens attached is made as small as possible; thus a light operational performance can be actualized.
(3) A film unit with a lens attached comprising a film winding up chamber to be loaded with a film for winding up the film every time after a photographing shot, and a photographing lens, further comprising a spool-engaged member provided with a gear having external teeth for being engaged with a spool disposed in said film winding up chamber, and a member for winding up operation combined with said spool-engaged member by an internal gear having a larger number of internal teeth than said gear.
According to this invention, the number of teeth of the internal gear of the member for winding up operation is made larger than that of the gear of the spool-engaged member; hence, the spool-engaged member of the member for winding up operation is rotated at an increased speed and a rapid winding operation can be actualized, while the thickness of the film unit is made as small as possible.
(4) A film unit with a lens attached comprising a film winding up chamber to be loaded with a film for winding up the film every time after a photographing shot, and a photographing lens, further comprising a spool-engaged member provided with a gear having internal teeth for being engaged with a spool disposed in said film winding up chamber, and a member for winding up operation disposed at an eccentric position deviated to the operational plane side with regard to said film winding up chamber, said member for winding up operation being combined with said spool-engaged member by a gear having a smaller number of external teeth than that of said gear.
According to this invention, the number of external teeth of the gear of the member for winding up operation is made smaller than that of the internal teeth of the gear of the spool-engaged member; hence, the operational force for the member for winding up operation can be reduced, and a light operational performance for winding up a film can be actualized.
(5) A film unit with a lens attached set forth in any one of the paragraphs (1) to (4), wherein a part of the member for winding up operation and the spool-engaged member form an overlapping portion extending along the direction of rotation of these members.
According to this invention, a part of the member for winding up operation and the spool-engaged member form an overlapping portion extending along the direction of rotation; hence, the light shielding ability against external light for the film winding up chamber can be improved in a compact manner.
(6) A mechanism for winding up operation for a photographic film which is used in a camera provided with a film winding up chamber for winding up a film every time after a photographing shot
Bierman Jordon B.
Bierman, Muserlian and Lucas
Konica Corporation
Mathews Alan A.
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